1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to tire mounting and dismounting devices and, more particularly, is directed towards apparatus for mounting and dismounting off-highway tires onto and off of their respective rims.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Tires and rims are maufactured in many different sizes for utilization with many different types of vehicles. The larger the size of the tire, the more difficult it becomes for a single individual to safely mount and dismount the tire to or from its associated rim.
For extremely large industrial tires, those which, for example, are mounted on 51 inch and larger rims, heavy expensive equipment and a multitude of personnel are required in order to safely complete a mounting or dismounting operation.
For those off-highway tires in the 15 to 25 inch diameter range, such as are commonly utilized for tractors, heavy trucks, construction vehicles, and mining vehicles, mounting and dismounting at on-site or remote areas must often be accomplished without the benefit of fancy equipment.
An exemplary technique for manually mounting such tires is described in the Goodyear Off-Highway Rims catalog No. TR71-6056R, at page 65. In the technique therein described, the tire is initially placed about the rim base while lying on its side. The side flange is then placed over the rim base and is manually pushed straight down as far as possible. The instructions then require the installer to actually stand on the side flange to force it below both grooves in the rim base. With the side flange and the installer thus positioned, the snap lock ring must then be manually inserted into the outer lock ring groove in the rim base. After the snap lock ring is in place in the case of tubeless tires (no easy task), a rubber sealing ring must then be placed in the lower sealing ring groove, an operation which also requires the flange to be held down below the groove exposure by having the installer stand on the tire's sidewall and/or flange. After ensuring, insofar as possible, that the lock ring fits snugly against the rim base around the entire circumference of the rim, the tire is then inflated by the installer. Upon inflation, the side flange will rise over the sealing ring and out against the lock ring.
The Goodyear catalog cautions that the lock ring must be properly seated before the tire is inflated. Otherwise, upon inflation, the lock ring may snap loose off the rim, and may cause serious injury, even death, to the installer. From this point of view, the manual procedure leaves much to be desired in terms of the degree of safety afforded to the installer. Many serious accidents have occurred as a result of inadvertent improper seating of the lock ring prior to inflation.
Further, when one attempts to follow such instructions to manually mount tires in the 24 to 25 inch diameter catagory, which are common on many large pieces of earth moving machinery, one generally faces many strenuous hours of back breaking labor in attempting to manually hold down the side flange and side wall of the tire while installing the split lock ring and sealing ring. It often requires two and perhaps three individuals to facilitate installation.
There are, unfortunately, no tools presently available which permit one person to more safely and easily mount such large off-highway tires.
Although it is common, in fact it is necessary, when mounting extremely large (51 inch diameter and larger) tires to employ large pieces of hydraulic equipment (as described on pages 70 and 71 of said Goodyear catalog), use of such equipment and personnel is highly impractical in remote locations where one frequently finds the necessity for mounting and/or dismounting the intermediate, but nevertheless large, sized tires (15 to 25 inches in diameter). It is simply too impractical and costly to ship such tires and rims back to a central garage or tire handling facility where the large equipment might be available.
It may therefore be appreciated that a great need exists for a versatile and safe tool which permits a single individual to on-site mount and dismount large diameter off-highway tires onto and off of their associated rims.
Prior art United States patents which illustrate exemplary tire handling devices in this general art area of which I am aware include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,530,265; 2,960,153; 3,574,318; 3,743,000; 3,857,431; and 3,942,575. However, none of the devices described in the cited patents come close to suggesting the invention concept to be detailed hereinbelow.